Cold Hands, Warm Heart
by Elusive Acorn
Summary: WARNING! CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILER OF THE MOVIE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS. An angsty one shot of Jack discovering his memories. Also threw in a bit of JackxTooth because reasons. Reviews encouraged and always welcome :)


He sits alone in the small chasm. Just knocked down by Pitch, the dark, mysterious boogey man, he sits there. His staff is snapped clean in half not too far from where he is sitting. Then he remembers that he isn't completely alone. He opens his palm slowly, to reveal the tiny fairy in his hand. "You okay Baby Tooth?" he whispers. The little thing gives a slight nod before trying to gain her sight and balance once again.

She shivers as she sits in the icy palm of Jack's hand. "Sorry," he mutters. "I can only keep you cold..." It doesn't matter, because Baby Tooth will find a way to stay warm. Feeling better, she begins to flit around Jack. She dives into the low pocket of his cerulean blue hoodie. She feels safe there. After poking around in the darkness of the pocket, she discovers that Jack is still carrying his old baby teeth. The teeth that hold his memories are sitting in the pocket.

She taps on the slender box, making it shake and glow. It startles Jack, and he gasps. He pulls it out of his pocket, Baby Tooth clinging to it. He stares at it for a moment, and exchanges a quick nod with the small creature. She opens the box, and Jack's mind is filled with the memories of his past. He braces himself as his last moments of life are played back for him like a movie.

He sees his younger sister. The both of them are standing on the top of a lake frozen over with ice. Ice that is cracking slowly beneath the young girl's skates. "I'm scared!" she whimpers. He tries to console her.

"It's okay, you're gonna be fine!" He reaches out for her, but she's too far away. "We're gonna make this more fun! We'll make it into a game!" he exclaims. The girl nods nervously, listening for instruction. "It's like hopscotch. Like we play at home all the time." He carefully tries to show her, but the ice crackles and crunches at his feet. She takes a step forward, and the same thing happens. Ice cracks, pieces fall, and tears form inside her eyes.

"Jack," she says. He tells her to take another step, and when she finally does, the ice falls. Just when she thinks she's gone, that she'll slip through the ice and freeze to death, something catches her leg. Her brother's staff is curled around her ankle, and he pulls her to safety, flinging her across the ice and onto sturdy ground. "You did it!" she cries, flashing a huge grin at him.

"Yeah I-" Jack tries to reply, but he's cut off by the sound of more ice crumbling. This time the ice is falling beneath him. And there's no one with a staff and lightning fast reflexes to save him.

It happens so fast. His sister screams out his name, and that's the last thing he hears. He tries to jump out of the freezing cold water, but his body is already numb. He stops struggling. With a splash, and a blurb of unheard words, he's down. The icy blackness of the water is pulling him under. It feels like there's a weight on his chest pushing him down, and tearing him from consciousness. The cold consumes him, and he's gone.

He doesn't know how long he's been asleep. But when he opens his eyes, and gasps for air, he believes he is alive. He doesn't know how this is possible, but he believes. He believes, that is, until he sees his hands. They're paler than the moon in the night sky above him. And he's not cold. He just came out of a frozen lake for christ sake! He should be freezing, but he's not. His chocolate hair has turned to an icy white color. His warm brown eyes, once full of life, now filled with a cold blue stupor, that he can't shake. He blinks, feeling the iciness of his own gaze. He knows now, that something is definitely different.

* * *

Jack gasps, and drops the box from his shaking hands. Baby Tooth watches in horror as the young man curls into a ball on the icy ground. He lets out a few sobs, realizing exactly what he'd seen. "I had a family! A sister! I saved her!" he cries. He was hit by an overwhelming wave of emotions that he couldn't escape.

The small fairy is watching over him while he cries, making sure Pitch doesn't sense Jack's weakness and come after them. She sends hopeful wishes to her mother, Tooth. _I know you're mad that he abandoned you, But Jack needs you now. _Baby Tooth stays next to the frost spirit, who is in shambles beside her. He doesn't even notice that she's there, trying her best to console him. Her voice is so tiny and he can't hear her or even begin to understand.

Baby Tooth notices something out of the corner of her eye. "Hello?" a voice calls out. "Baby Tooth, are you out here?" The fairy perks up at the sound of her name. She flies out of the chasm to greet her mother. "I'm so glad you're okay. Where's Jack?" She shows Tooth the split in the ice where Jack is stranded. He can no longer fly because his staff is broken, leaving him powerless. Tooth and the small fairy fly back down.

He's broken and she can sense it. Something inside him is not right. "J-jack?" Tooth calls. He doesn't move. "Baby Tooth, what happened?" The little thing flies over to the box of Jack's baby teeth. Tooth's heart sinks inside of her when she notices that it has been opened. She also sees his broken staff, and tears well up in her eyes. She cautiously lays a hand on Jack. "Are you okay?"

He doesn't want to talk to her. He doesn't want her to know how much he's hurting. He wants her to believe that he is strong. In reality he's not. He wants so badly to give up, to be weak and lie here in the bottom of this chasm surrounded by his memories. But he can't keep the mask, the facade of a happy go lucky frost spirit, on any longer. He opens his eyes and looks up at her. He admires every inch of her beautiful feathers. And her eyes, her piercing violet eyes, are staring at him with immense concern. "No," he whispers. "I'm not okay..."

Before he can stop himself he's crying again, sobbing into his icy hands as she holds him. "I'm so sorry Jack..." Tooth breathes. She knows why this is happening, but he explains it to her through tears anyway.

"My past. It was great! I was just like I am now only... I was alive and happy. I had a family. And a little sister. And I saved her but-" His breath becomes caught in his throat as he talks. "But I fell in, and here I am. And Pitch tried to get me to join him! He was going to kill Baby Tooth if I didn't give him my staff. He destroyed it!" Tooth takes her eyes off of Jack and examines the broken staff.

"Maybe we can fix it," she murmurs. Jack prays she is right. It's bad enough that no children believe in him, and that they have to fight this epic battle against pitch. He wants to be able to fly again.

"I'm sorry I left you guys back there. I was just really curious about what was down that hole..." He begins to cry once more. Tooth shushes him.

"It's okay, Jack. I'm not mad, and neither is North. We know it wasn't your fault. And Bunnymund, he'll come around. He's just sore because it was his holiday, y'know?" Jack nodded.

He feels safe in her arms. She is the warmth that he needs in this cold time. She is the beautiful light that he needs to help him through the darkness. Without thinking he hugs her. She returns the gesture, enjoying the unusual warmth of the frost spirit's embrace. She brushes the hair from his eyes and plants a small peck on his forehead.

Jack has never felt warmth. After all, he is a frost spirit. But when Tooth's lips made contact with his cold skin, his whole being felt a strange warmth. His heart is beating so fast. He stares at her with his big, blue eyes. He leans forward...

When their lips touch, she feels dizzy. He feels that amazing warmth within him. The way they fit together makes it seem like they were designed for one another. And she can't help but smile as he pulls away. Jack knows that as long as he's with Tooth, everything is going to be okay. He'll find a way to fix his staff. The Guardians will find a way to defeat Pitch Black. And maybe one day, when all this is over, the children will believe in him.

**A/N: Hello dear readers! I am currently obsessed with the movie Rise of the Guardians and I wanted to write an angsty portrayal of Jack's memories. In the movie, he's sort of happy about remembering, but if i were in his shoes, I'd feel very upset that I'd left such a happy life behind. That's sort of where the inspiration for the story came from. Also the movie had me shipping Tooth and Jack so so much. There was so much canon interaction i cant- ANYWAY! I hope you liked this little one shot. As always reviews are greatly appreciated. - Elusive Acorn**


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